It’s no exaggeration to say that Queensland Theatre has had some troubles recently but the company is banking on a Jane Austen-led recovery.
Announcing season 2025 to a packed Concert Hall at QPAC on Wednesday night, Queensland Theatre CEO Criena Gehrke says next year will be a big one.
“Whether you are a Queensland Theatre veteran or inspired to join us for the first time, we know you’ll fall in love with season 2025,” Gehrke says. “It’s been interesting times, but I think we are managing well.”
The “interesting times” included the relatively sudden departure of former artistic director Lee Lewis, who returned several months later to direct POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive, a play by Selina Fillinger, which was then cancelled due to the loss of two stars – one to injury, another for unspecified reasons.
To cancel an entire season is not a good look.
But it is a truth universally acknowledged that a theatre company which has been in a bit of strife must be in want of a pretty good production to kick off the year (apologies to Ms Austen for the paraphrasing).
And by George, we think they have it. Who doesn’t love Jane Austen? So, to kick off 2025 with a sumptuous retelling of Pride and Prejudice is really a stroke of genius.
Austen’s timeless wit sets the tone for season 2025 in a Bridgerton-esque retelling of Pride and Prejudice, the book, with Pride & Prejudice, a play, premiering at Toowoomba’s Empire Theatre (February 13) before playing QPAC’s Playhouse (February 20 to March 9).
Patrick White Award winners Wendy Mocke and Lewis Treston breathe fresh life into literature’s original romantic comedy with Bridget Boyle and Queensland Theatre associate artistic director Daniel Evans co-directing an all-Queensland cast including Maddison Burridge and Andrew Hearle.
Evans is one of Australia’s most talented directors and would make a great artistic director. The company is currently searching for a replacement for Lewis and has had the luxury of three associate artistic directors in the meantime – Evans (programming); associate artistic director (First Nations) Isaac Drandic; and associate artistic director (Education and Youth) Fiona MacDonald.
“When one artistic director isn’t enough, we have three,” Gehrke jokes. “But recruitment for an artistic director is underway and we hope that will be completed in October.”
Evans says he pitched doing something big to kick off a new year for Queensland Theatre.
“So why not head to Regency England?” he says. “We wanted something bright and summery. Also, it’s 250 years since Jane Austen was born next year and that’s a reason to celebrate.”
Evans says Austen’s “blistering wit” comes to the fore in the piece.
Pride & Prejudice will be followed by a rollicking musical revival of Calamity Jane, David Williamson’s spiky and sassy Rhinestone Rex and Miss Monica, the heartfelt ensemble piece Dear Son, the critically acclaimed Julia, a ripped-from-the-headlines retelling in Back to Bilo, fearless new work Malacañang Made Us and Aaron Sorkin’s razor-sharp smash, A Few Good Men (because we CAN handle the truth).
In an attempt to accentuate the “Queensland” in Queensland Theatre, the company launches its ambitious Creative in Cairns initiative, delivers programs in 73 regional Queensland districts and makes its first mainstage performance of 2025 in Toowoomba.
Gehrke says season 2025 will be a theatrical love letter to audiences, old and new, with each programmed work a new page carefully crafted to enchant and entertain.
“Queensland sits at the epicentre of season 2025, from the stories we tell to the artists on the stage to the creative forces working behind the scenes and, critically, to the people in our audiences who trust us to inspire, excite and delight them,” she says.
“We are so proud to present a season that includes two world premieres – Dear Son and Malacañang Made Us – alongside bold new work, reimagined classics, blockbusters and globally resonant events adapted for the stage.”
The Bille Brown Theatre transforms into an immersive old-time Western piano bar –complete with on-stage saloon seating – for a raucous revival of the musical hit Calamity Jane (March 22 to April 17). Starring Queensland’s first lady of song and stage, Naomi Price, and directed by Richard Carroll, Calamity Jane promises a whip-cracking evening of grit and giggles.
Double Gold Logie winner Georgie Parker (Home and Away) and Glenn Hazeldine (Colin From Accounts) reunite to trade barbs and banter in David Williamson’s Rhinestone Rex and Miss Monica (May 28 to June 21), 15 years after they starred in its world premiere and 30 years since Parker last trod the Queensland Theatre boards.
The versatile Bille Brown Theatre then sets the stage for the world premiere of the poignant and powerful Dear Son (June 28 to July 19), directed by Queensland Theatre’s head of First Nations theatre Isaac Drandic, who crafted the work with John Harvey.
The page-to-stage adaptation embodies the handwritten and heartfelt letters of 12 Indigenous men to their sons, published in author Thomas Mayo’s titular book and including missives from Stan Grant, Troy Cassar-Daley and Charlie King.
Justine Clarke steps into the shoes of Australia’s first female prime minister in Julia, in the QPAC Playhouse (August 16 to 30). The box-office hit that expertly blurs the lines between fact and fiction is written by Joanna Murray-Smith and directed by Helpmann Award-winner Sarah Goodes.
Get InReview in your inbox – free each Saturday. Local arts and culture – covered.
Thanks for signing up to the InReview newsletter.
Back to Bilo, a Queensland story that became another rallying chapter in Australia’s history, makes its mainstage debut at Bille Brown Theatre (September 3 to 13) as part of Brisbane Festival. The remarkable true tale of a Sri Lankan Tamil refugee family ripped away from their adoptive Biloela home is told with compassion and care by Brisbane theatre makers Belloo Creative.
Jordan Shea’s Queensland Premier’s Drama Award-winning play Malacañang Made Us makes its world premiere at Bille Brown Theatre (October 18 to November 1). The epic play begins with the fall of Philippines dictator Ferdinand Marcos and unfurls over decades, countries, generations and ideologies.
Then comes the finale with the rousing courtroom drama A Few Good Men, Sorkin’s cinematic smash, returning to the stage in the QPAC Playhouse (November 22 to December 7). Emulating the film’s blistering plotline, a cast of rising stars go head-to-head with a swathe of stage legends in this theatrical tour-de-force, directed by Daniel Evans.
queenslandtheatre.com.au
Support local arts journalism
Your support will help us continue the important work of InReview in publishing free professional journalism that celebrates, interrogates and amplifies arts and culture in South Australia.
Donate Here
